Review: From the Vastland – Blackhearts

Sometimes material I get for review disappears into my folder and my iTunes and I lose it for years. Then I find it again on shuffle and think wow, what I missed the first time. From the Vastland’s ‘Blackhearts’ EP is one of those, from 2015 through Satanath Records. It is an intense slab of powerful black metal, and worth seeking out all these years later.

‘Astoyhad’ starts with a slow, deliberate riff leaden with dark atmospheres before charging off with poisonous intent. A howling, frostbitten chainsaw through your heart, this Iranian one man effort weaves gloom throughout this piece. Iranian black metal; what strange worlds we live in. As orthodox Scandinavian as it comes, From the Vastland don’t try to be different because of their locale, but pay homage to the vast frozen north with the icy ferocity of the title track and the cold majesty of ‘Abakhtaran’.

I need to scour deeper into this vast catalogue and see what else I can find, because if there are more hidden gems of this quality they deserve the coverage! From the Vastland is blackhearted indeed, and this EP captures them at an icy and relentless highpoint.